Thursday, January 31, 2019

Ever since I’ve taken over as Lead Facilitator for the Philadelphia
Senior Center’s Best Day group, I’ve made it my mission to get both
Best Day and its older buds the exposure they deserve. One of the ways
I’ve done this through The Moth, and older bud José got to tell a story
onstage in a Moth event at the World Cafe. Another way is through The
Wilma Theatre. For the past few months, The Wilma took a group of older
buds at PSC to see James Ijames’ “Kill Move Paradise,” then helped them
create a devised theatre production based on that show and their
experiences as seniors.

The older buds The
Wilma selected...were not from Best Day, but they are interested in
collaborating with us on a future show. Last week, I took the
storytellers of Best Day to see the Wilma’s performance—“Our Stories: Do
You See Me?”—and they loved it! There was comedy, nostalgia, tragedy,
and a whole bunch of older buds who were comfortable onstage. Pretty
much all of Best Day’s older buds wanted to do a show of their own after
that, including the ones with stage fright!

One
more way, as you all know by now, is through our “Joy Starts Here”
initiative. But did you know that the stories you send through “Joy
Starts Here” get posted on Best Day’s website itself? Our own Rochelle
Tynes had her story posted on the site, and she appeared as the first
hit when Googling The Best Day of My Life So Far. How's that for
exposure?

Rochelle R. Tynes

01.21.2019

I Have Become a Latchkey Senior

In past years, my sons and other
neighbors and relatives children were told to come right home from
school. [They were told to] come in alone, don’t talk to anyone, and
never ever take the key out from under your shirt. This key around their
necks were caused by us parents having to work, not having anyone to
take care of our children and not wanting them to be outside in hot or
cold elements or in a harmful situation.

The
placing of the keys caused the children to be called “latchkey”
children. Usually, these keys were placed on the children’s necks with
the warning that if they were lost, then they would have to sit outside
and wait until the parents came home.

Several keys were lost and the warnings came to pass.

I,
however, am a senior and in the last two months have locked myself out.
What I’ve done is left my keys in the house when I’ve had to go out.
When I’ve done this, I’ve called my grandson that lives around the
corner from me. If he is at home, he will come around. If he is at work,
I have to wait until he gets off to open the door.

I
told myself that I can’t keep forgetting my key and if I leave keys at a
neighbors, it has to be someone who is home most of the time, also
someone I trust. Another solution is to be a latchkey senior, put my
keys in a pouch to wear under my shirt so that I won’t be locked out and
just assume my new role as a latchkey senior.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

I don’t believe it’s coincidence that
The Women’s March is so close to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s the
perfect opportunity to capture the righteous fury of the marchers and
turn it towards helping our community. But between the snow warnings and
bitter weather these past few days, it’s made going out more dangerous.
So, what do you do if you missed out on the March, MLK Day, or both?
You talk to some seniors and send us their stories! You can read all
about our Joy Starts Here challenge at this page: http://bestdayofmylifesofar.org/joystartshere/

And here’s a few stories from us to warm your heart, if not your body.

Elliott Doomes

01.10.19

After School Safe Havens

My holidays is good. I didn't travel and I just stayed home, but I had
communications with my whole family. My great grandson was on the phone
and he went "Ah-bah-bah!" He can't talk but he'll let you know he's
there. My family keeps me going, because otherwise, it's too easy to do
the same thing over and over again. It gets lackadaisical. On the other
hand, I really don't want to go walking around in the cold, especially
not at night and especially not in this neighborhood. Every kid on the
street wants to be a gangster rapper and shoot people in the streets
because those rappers have all the gold and jewels and cash, But that's
not real.

Kids today don't have the same opportunities that we had. We used to
have playgrounds every two blocks and during the winter they could go
inside and play basketball and table tennis. Nowadays, they don't keep
those places open anymore. Now we just have open fields.

The other day, at 18th and Lombard, I was thinking about sitting in the
park and relaxing. During my childhood, we went there all the time. But i
can't sit there for two long. Nobody there looks like me anymore. So,
if I sat there for long enough watching the kids playing, somebody would
come over and wonder what the hell I was doing there. Nobody from my
childhood lives there anymore. I might be paranoid, but that's the way
it was when I was a kid and that's the way it is now. If a white man
came over and asked me what I was doing there, I could never give him an
answer he'd think was believable. I didn't think it'd be safe to be
there.

There also used to be a Marton Anderson Center named after the first and
foremost African American contralto opera singer. And she lived there,
even after going to Europe and Carnegie Hall. I did know a lot of her
history back then, but I forgot most of it. Most people today don't know
who Marton Anderson is. Star Garden, Syggis Playground, all those
places were after school havens. You actually felt protected there and
you respected the people in charge. Nobody wanted to be banned, but they
wouldn't ban you forever. I could say a lot about the things I've seen
change, and not for the better.

Frances Bryce

01.10.19

How I Got My Wish While Singing A Song

All I want for Christmas is a live Christmas tree. A live Christmas tree.
Noble fir or pine will do. Hear my sorrow, we plea.

Where do you put the presents when there's no tree? Golly, gee, please
tell me.

Put them on the table, someone said to me. Where will we eat? How can
that be? Please do not kid me.

Put them on a chair, an answer came to me. Then we must stand, no seats
for sitting. How will that be?

Put them in front of the fireplace. Unsafe as can be. Fire put the
presents in dances, I'm sure you will agree.

I can hardly believe there
will be a Christmas with no tree. Oh how sad. Poor, poor me.

Epilogue

The next morning down the stairs I came. What do I see? My daughter
standing there with Christmas lights in her hand. "What are you doing
with lights," I demand.

"Why have lights and no tree?" Her reply, "I
have a plan, you'll see."

Finally, I seated myself and then looked around to my right. There stood
a tree, what a beautiful sight!

A glorious Christmas tree, did my eyes
deceive me? No! No! A live Christmas tree that my eyes had failed to see.

A song I
had made in jest had resulted in a wonderful surprise thanks to the
Robnett.

I laughed, hooted and shouted with glee. Now a home for the presents
under the Christmas tree.

I hurried and got the ornaments to dress the tree. Happy that I made the
song, happy as could be!

And speaking of Dr. King, check out our collection of MLK themed stories, here and here.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Last week at Best Day, I had been talking to Joan about religion, and she said that Jesus had saved her life multiple times. Then she told me a story about her husband's abuse, and how many times it got so bad that she'd almost died. I told her how incredible that story was, and how honored I'd be if she'd share it with the rest of Best Day. She wrote it down and read it, but as she read she worried that nobody wanted to hear it because of how violent it was. When she finished, other older buds came forward about their own abuse, and the things they did to fight back. It was surprising to see how many other people there lived with abuse, and you'd never know just by looking at them. It's a cliché, but it's true. You never know what a person went through until you listen to them. I've often said that the best day of your life can be when you're able to talk about the worst day of your life, and I feel like last week's workshop is proof of that.Unfortunately, I can't post Joan's story this week. She couldn't think of a good way to end it, so she decided to work on it from home. Once she finishes it, I'll type and post it. In the meantime, here's another story about miracles:

Elliot Doomes 11.29.2018 What Is A Miracle At a very young age, I heard all the miracles in the Bible. Moses parting the Red Sea, the casting out of demons, and I always wanted to experience my own miracle. I never did, but I always managed to overcome my adversities and grow stronger. And it’s not because I’m smart! I can’t believe that. If I was smarter, I’d never make a mistake. It was all divine intervention. God, Yah veh, Allah, whatever you call it. I’m more spiritual than religious. I grew into young manhood, I met a young lady, and married. She conceived and bore a beautiful daughter who is strong, healthy, and beautiful. She grew to young woomanhood and she had four beautiful healthy children – three girls and a boy. Angie, Donte, Asia, and Amber who were all born strong, healthy, and beautiful. My grandson, Donte, who produced a son who was also born strong, healthy, and beautiful, and Asia’s four months pregnant, so I’ll be a great grandfather two times. Am I still looking for a miracle? No, I’m too busy enjoying the ones I have!

You never know what a person went through until you listen to them. Talk to a senior in your life, and if you like what you hear, then share it here: http://bestdayofmylifesofar.org/joystartshere/ Our goal’s to get stories from all over the country throughout the course of this year, and you know Philly is full of stories. Introduce us to some cool new people this year!

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Thursday, January 10, 2019

I noticed something very interesting in the first few weeks of 2019.
In addition to running The Best Day of My Life So Far at the
Philadelphia Senior Center I also attend two playwriting workshops, and
both Best Day and the workshops were much fuller than expected. First
Thursdays tend to have fewer people, but last week’s had a good amount
of older buds. I think the New Year is encouraging people to join new
groups and get back into ones they used to attend.

On
the other hand, there are a lot of people who won’t be able to come to
Best Day for a while. Ann and Frances have health issues, José couldn’t
come last week due to a personal issue, Joe lives too far away, Mike’s
art classes conflict with Best Day, and I haven’t heard from Eugene and
Mo in a while. My hope is that all of the people who did come to Best
Day before will be back in full force once the craziness of the New Year
is over. In the meantime, all the extra people joining all these clubs
in Philly has already got me feeling hopeful for this year.

Ann Von Dehsen

10.11.2018

To My 21 Year Old Self

I
recently saw a TV show in which older people were asked, “What would
you tell your 21 year old self about the life they will lead?”

I would begin by telling my 21-year old self, “You have a voice, use it!”

And here is why:

You will realize that you often let others choose your path in life. At 21, you are

getting married, although you had always planned to stay single in Boston a while longer,
but you didn’t use that voice to say, “Um, not yet” and instead thought
“well all my friends are getting married and OK, I’m sure I’ll be
happy.” You will like the house you and your husband will eventually
buy, but you will love and always remember the little bungalow with
arched doorways, squeaky floors, and built-in bookshelves. He will say,
“No, it’s impractical and needs work” and you are still not ready to use
that voice to say, “So what? I love it.”

You will have
several relatively happy years of marriage, but slowly, you will become
that song, “White bird in a golden cage” until you will use that voice
to say, “Enough. I am unhappy and have to leave!” So white bird will fly
allowing you to be free to discover who you really are. And you will
meet so many different people that you would not have met when you were
coupled and only befriended people who looked like you and thought like
you and acted like you.

Of course, there will be times of
loneliness and fear and brief thoughts of, “Oh God, what have I done?”
But you will realize how strong you are and actually learn how to put
air in the tires and change the oil, to flip a circuit breaker and
install a new float in the toilet.

More importantly, you will
allow yourself to be happy and love again. You will no longer be afraid
to take chances resulting in new experiences, new places, and new
understanding and appreciation of a world you too often took for
granted.

You will hold so many people in your heart that at
times you will feel it might overflow, but don’t worry, there will
always be room for more.

And during gray days of sadness,
anger, sickness, and self-doubt, remember that you are strong,
especially since you have found that voice and know how to use it.

Most of all, relax and your life will be filled with happiness and laughs; “La Vie en Rose.”

And
if you want to make a New Year’s resolution of your own, then why not
resolve to end senior isolation. Talk to a senior in your life, and if
you like what you hear, then share it here: http://bestdayofmylifesofar.org/joystartshere/

Our
goal’s to get stories from all over the country throughout the year, and
you know Philly is full of stories. Introduce us to some cool new people
this year!

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Thursday, January 3, 2019

The Best Day of My Life (So Far) has launched a brand new campaign in honor of our tenth anniversary! We're calling it Joy Starts Here, and our campaign is for twelve different sites to collect stories from ten cities in the United States, throughout the course of the year. And we're talking brand new stories too. You can find the details here, and I will be participating as well. If you want to know who to talk to and what kinds of stories we're looking for, it can be from anyone about anything. As long as the story's from a senior's own life, we want it!

But if you want a little inspiration, then you can check out some of our most popular posts in the past ten years:

Once you've submitted a story, please let us know what city you and the storyteller are from so I can post the count on here. You can let us know at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org, or you can tag us on Twitter at @bestdaysofar, on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bestdayofmylifesofar/, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bestdayofmylifesofar/. We can't wait to see and hear the hundreds of stories this country's older buds have to offer. Good luck, and Happy New Year.

About The Best Day of My Life So Far

Visit our homepage to find out more, meet our team, and get involved!

About This Blog

Lovingly narrated by Best Day Founder Benita Cooper and our Philadelphia Senior Center group's Lead Facilitator Caitlin Cieri, this blog is our invitation to you to hear the stories told every week at the first ever Best Day group, which began meeting at a borrowed basement office in 2009, and has inspired satellite groups across the country. Click to see how a phone call with her grandma inspired Benita to build our organization.

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